


Slowly, Surely

by needchocolatenow



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Fluff, M/M, kind of, pining!Shiro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-11 21:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9035474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/needchocolatenow/pseuds/needchocolatenow
Summary: Shiro is tasked with an assignment to deliver important cargo to Altea. Lance is his second. --Or, the fic in which Shiro and Lance take a road trip through space in an unfortunately named shuttle.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Медленно, но верно](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13998594) by [neun_geschichten](https://archiveofourown.org/users/neun_geschichten/pseuds/neun_geschichten)



> For Fonbella on Tumblr. Merry Christmas and I hope you enjoy! :)

“Are you sure?” 

Lance’s jaw took that determined, willful look of when he was dead set on a goal, so Shiro didn’t push it. He smiled and patted Lance on the shoulder, noting underneath the uniform was a lithe, wiry frame that was tense with unspoken nerves. 

“When do we leave?” Lance asked. 

Ah, the stubborn doggedness of youth. Shiro almost laughed, but managed to restrain himself in time, only letting out a breathless wheeze that made him sound years older than he actually was. 

“Tomorrow morning,” he said and watched as Lance’s expression wavered. The doubt disappeared quickly, replaced with a sharp grin and mischievous eyes. 

“Two months alone in space with the universe’s most eligible bachelor? Count me in.” 

At this, Shiro did laugh.

 

* * *

The task at hand was simple: deliver cargo to a specific coordinate on the planet Altea, located in a galaxy so far away that getting there  _ fast _ would require state of the art equipment. Shiro did not have any such luxuries, not for a simple delivery mission, but he was given an adequate shuttle, a mildly generous amounts of funds (which was to say, a pittance), a short list of personnel of whom he could choose to take with him (of which he could only take one because budget cuts), and more than two man’s worth of packaged food for the journey. It was almost as if they were trying to get rid of the stuff. 

Directions and a map were saved onto the shuttle’s CPU, with no backup drive just in case the main one failed somewhere along the way. Galaxy Garrison’s faith in Shiro was astoundingly unwavering or they were terrible at preparing for worst case scenarios. 

Shiro would like to believe it was the former, though his rational mind was more inclined to say it was the latter. 

“Really, a trip to Altea and we get this?” 

Lance was similarly unimpressed. He was dressed in civvies, a blue baseball cap pulled over his head as he surveyed the the ship they were given--hilariously and unfortunately named  _ G.G. Titan Uranus. _

Lance cracked a smile at the name when he saw it. “At least the name’s decent. You couldn’t wrangle a better ship out of Iverson?” 

Shiro shrugged. “The other one was called  _ Unidentified How Is It Flying Object. _ Between the two, I thought that this one just sounded slightly more promising.” 

When Lance laughed, Shiro laughed with him. The sound was joyful and infectious, tickling at Shiro’s heart to bring the blood pumping into his cheeks, no doubt coloring them like ripe spring tomatoes. 

“I guess we should get this show on the road, huh?” 

Lance was looking at the hangar bay doors, expression inscrutable. A beat of silence passed between them before he turned back to Shiro, a wide grin set upon his lips. 

“Can I pilot?” 

Shiro thought back to the last time he let Lance take the controls. 

“When we get into open space,” he promised.

 

* * *

“What are we delivering?” Lance asked, looking curiously back into the cargo hold. 

There was one large, heavy crate that had been loaded on before anything else with strict instructions on not to open it. Bright red stickers with the word ‘fragile’ was printed upon it in bold print. A tiny, handwritten note that was clearly taped on as an afterthought stated: ‘might be flammable, do not test.’

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Shiro replied. He glanced over at Lance again and then lightly whapped him on the head. “Stop looking at it. You can’t open it.” 

Lance finally settled back into his seat, crossing his arms over his chest with a petulant pout. He was still for a total of ten seconds before bringing up his controls to flood the shuttle with music. It was the stuff that they played on the radio, the generic catchy tunes that would inevitably fade into obscurity after a month or so. By the time they got back, these songs would likely be antiquated already. 

“Sooo,” said Lance, drawing out the word. “Why did you ask me?” 

Shiro pretended to scan through some coordinates before feeling brave enough to answer Lance’s question. 

“Why wouldn’t I ask you?” 

He was brave. Just not that brave. Not yet. 

“Your go to guy is usually Matt, and barring that, it’s Keith. This is the first time you’ve asked me to come along. Did the other two bail or is something up?” 

Shiro shrugged and smiled. “Would you believe it if I said you were my first choice?” 

Lance laughed and shook his head, a light, dusky color entering his cheeks. “Thanks,” he said. “But seriously, we’re going to be in space for two months, just the two of us. You might as well tell me. Who else am I going to talk to? Besides, no judgement here. You probably have too much blackmail material on me already.” 

“Nothing’s wrong,” Shiro reassured. “Don’t worry about it. Hey, do you think you can take over the piloting? I’m going to go make us some lunch.” 

Lance groaned, but got out of his seat to switch with Shiro. 

“You’d think they were just trying to get rid of that goo,” he muttered. “It’s a novelty the first time, interesting the second, and horrible the third. Who the heck engineers green space goo? Sadists, that’s who.” 

Shiro reached out and ruffled Lance’s hair, feeling the short, soft strands fall against his fingers. He jerked his hand back when he lingered too long and Lance looked up at him, an unasked question in his gaze. 

“Like you said, it’s going to be two months. Better get used to that space goo.” 

Lance rolled his eyes and turned to face the console.

 

* * *

Their first stop was just outside the Andromeda galaxy, on an orange planet that was labeled Yextan on the map. Lance had tried to pull up any pertinent information on it, but all the database spat back up was that there was a small settlement of humans on it just south of the equator and that was where they had clearance to land and nowhere else. 

“I can look at you for hours,” said Lance, “but if I stay in here any longer, I might go crazy.” 

“Really, now,” Shiro scolded even as he fought down the blush, ignored the fluttering of butterflies in his stomach, and tried to focus on the task at hand. He didn’t particularly want either of them to die upon entering the atmosphere due to him not piloting correctly. “As the highest ranking officer aboard this vessel, I could discipline you.” 

Out of the corner of his eye, Shiro could see Lance biting down on his laughter. “I didn’t think you were into stuff like that,” teased Lance. 

_ “Lance.” _

“Alright, alright!” Lance laughed as Shiro sighed. 

They landed with no problems and were greeted by a slight man who wore permanent furrows in his aged brows. “The name’s Gabe,” he said, gesturing around at the large, flat runway that they’ve touched down at. “Welcome to Yextan, the most xenophobic planet to have ever existed in all the universe. It’s been a damned miracle for us to build a settlement out here.” 

_ “Ambassador _ Gabe Wallace?” Lance blinked down at his holopad, scrolling through the information there with a slight frown. 

“The one and only. Let me show you around and maybe when you make your trip on home, you can put in a word or two for me with your superiors? God knows the idiots at the consulate aren’t listening to anything I say.” 

Shiro and Lance exchanged a glance behind Gabe’s back. 

“We’re only here for a simple refueling,” Shiro ventured, “but if it isn’t too much of a detour, we can look around, sir.” 

“Can we stock up on real food?” Lance asked. “Please?”

He looked so hopeful that Shiro couldn’t find it in himself to say no. 

It was because of the space goo, which was also beginning to wear at Shiro’s tolerance, that let him hand over their chip card to Lance with the instructions to spend wisely. 

The moment the card left his hands, he knew that he could kiss his carefully planned budget good-bye. Shiro could have laughed at the absurdity, should have kept a hold of their meager budget, but when Lance looked at him like that, with the twinkle in his eyes and the easy going smile, Shiro was gone. 

He had fallen slowly, but surely.

 

* * *

The first person he asked when he got the mission assignment was Matt. 

“I’ll be heading out to check something at the Kerberos station,” Matt said as he balanced a pen on his upper lip. “Nope, sorry, can’t do it. Besides, my name isn’t on that list. You should definitely choose someone on that list. Just saying.” 

Shiro then had turned to Keith for help, who demanded that Shiro hand over the list of candidates that were available for the mission. 

“My name’s not even on here,” Keith had said. 

Shiro scowled, understanding exactly what Keith was going to say next because of all the things that Keith was, it was not tactful. 

“Lance is, though. Why don’t you call him up? You’ve been staring after his ass for forever. Take this chance to realize that he’s just as annoying as I’ve always been telling you.”

Shiro shoved the list of candidates back into his pocket, desperately trying to hide the blush that was rising from his neck up to eat his face and ears. “You secretly like Lance,” he muttered. 

Keith stiffened before letting out the tension in his shoulders with a loud exhale. “Of course I do. Everybody likes him,” said Keith quietly, as if admitting that well-known fact was killing him. “But if he knew that, his ego would become unstoppable. Gotta curb it where I can.” 

Shiro smiled at that, knowing full well the competition that ran between Lance and Keith despite their camaraderie. They were a force of nature when together, but they were also the most volatile combination sometimes, when their one-upmanship got the better of them. They held the record for best and worst scores for emergency scenario simulations. 

In a way, Shiro envied the bond the two had, but he would never begrudge Keith the few friends he had. 

“Go ask Lance,” Keith advised. “I’m sure he’ll agree to be your second.”

Shiro had nodded and agreed, though it had taken him till the day before the mission to actually ask. 

He shouldn’t have been surprised that Lance said yes, but he was.

 

* * *

They made a total of three other stops in order to refuel, sometimes to see the sights and stretch their legs. It wasn’t often that either of them got to come this far out into the universe and if Lance sometimes convinced him that they could spend an extra day not cooped up in the ship, well, who was Shiro to say no? The trip was going frightfully quick and Shiro wasn’t sure if he wanted it to end.

They had almost reached Altea when the shuttle’s communications began to pick up a static-laced voice screaming at them. 

“--TERRITORY. GET OUT.”

Lance picked up the receiver and spoke into it: “This is the--” he shot Shiro a salacious grin,  _ “G.G. Titan Uranus _ of Galaxy Garrison from Earth, please identify yourself.” 

“--NOBODY’S--JUST MOVE. NOT YOUR TERRITORY.”

Shiro looked at their scanner’s reports, but didn’t note anything of danger. There were no ships around their immediate area, no planets or moons either. Visually, he could only make out scraps from old floating space debris. Shiro turned, ready to tell Lance what the scanners were picking up, only to find Lance had gotten out of his seat to look over Shiro’s shoulder at his findings. 

They were so close, their faces almost touching. All Shiro had to do was lean forward and...

“There’s no ship out there,” Lance said slowly. He glanced back at the receiver, this time with a hint of nervousness. “Can ghosts exist in vacuums?” 

“It’s not a ghost,” Shiro said, his voice coming out surprisingly steady even when his heart wasn't. “Probably a remnant from whatever left this mess behind.”

“GET OUT OF MY TERRITORY,” screamed the voice. 

“We’re leaving!” Lance screamed back.

 

* * *

Altea was a beautiful planet, not too different looking from Earth; the skies were blue, the plants were green, the dirt was brown with just a tinge of pink in it. They had high white capped mountains and stones that glistened silver. 

This meant that their journey was at the halfway point and Shiro felt the most terrible sense of conflict within when they landed on the Earth settlement in Altea. 

“So, what’s in there?” Lance asked as a group of highly advanced looking robots moved the heavy crate out of the shuttle. 

“They didn’t tell you?” the officer in charge asked. 

Shiro shook his head just as Lance shrugged. 

“Letters,” the officer said. “Gifts from Earth from loved ones. Thanks for delivering them safely to Altea.” She saluted them, her posture perfect as she did so. “Everyone will be thrilled.” 

“Just doing our jobs,” Shiro said with a smile.

 

* * *

Lance laughed when they got back on the shuttle, provisions and fuel restocked for the trip home. 

“We’re just glorified mailmen,” he said, no bitterness in his voice, only mirth. 

“If it makes you feel any better, we’re the best mailmen in the universe,” Shiro said and that only got Lance to laugh harder. It made Shiro want to laugh too, to share in Lance’s joy, but it was like a stone had been cast into the depth of his gut and settled there. He had been feeling it ever since they’ve landed on Altea.

Finally, when they made it into the darkness of space, Shiro set the autopilot on and turned to Lance, his heart thudding a mile a minute in his chest. 

He gathered his meager courage and did his best to not let his nerves show. “Lance, you said you wanted to know why I chose you to come with me for this mission.” 

“I did. I do.” Lance turned towards him, the ghost of a smile still dancing on his lips. Shiro did his best to meet Lance’s eyes. 

“It’s because I just--”  _ I like you. I like you so much. I wanted to create memories of the two of us if after this, you never want to see me again.  _ “We hadn’t hung out or anything in awhile. I wanted us to be on better terms.” 

Lance’s eyebrows rose with every word. Silence settled between them and Shiro did his best to not burst into embarrassed tears. 

“Is that all you wanted to say?” Lance asked, each word pronounced and deliberate. It was like he knew, somehow, that Shiro was fighting hard to speak what he really, truly wanted to say.

Shiro balled his hand into a fist. “I like you,” he said in a rush. “I really like you, Lance. I hope that’s ok and when we get back to Earth, I would like to take you out.” 

There. He said it and he could feel the way his cheeks were absolutely burning, all across the bridge of his nose and up to his ears. He had never felt his face feel so hot before and Lance was just staring back at him, blinking like an owl. 

“Are you asking me out on a date?” Lance asked, voice pitched low. 

“When we get back, yes,” Shiro answered.

At first, Shiro wasn’t sure what Lance was going to do or say, but then the biggest grin appeared on Lance’s face and he practically bowled Shiro over in an attempt at a hug. 

“Holy shit!” Lance crowed, even when Shiro unconsciously admonished him for his use of language. “Holy shit, I can’t believe that bastard.” 

Shiro froze. “What?”

Lance was unaffected, or he didn’t notice. “Keith called me half an hour before we left Earth telling me that this was some crazy plan to get me to notice you. Shiro!” He squeezed Shiro tight, his arms unexpectedly strong. “I’ve been nonstop flirting with you for weeks!” 

This time, it was Shiro to laugh, weak and wheezy as he realized what Lance was saying. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t realize,” he said, slowly and hesitantly squeezing Lance back in an approximation of a hug. 

“I thought you did, because I mean, look at the name of this ship!” Lance laughed, the sound close and wonderful and so full of warmth. “Unsubtle, much?” 

“Not what I had in mind,” Shiro sighed, but smiled anyway, letting Lance go. Lance didn’t budge a muscle from where he was hanging off of Shiro’s shoulders.

“Hey, about that first date. Why don’t we do it now?” Lance asked. His eyes were bright, luminous even. “I mean, look at that!” He waved at the inky black darkness that constituted the space outside. “We have the universe at our fingertips. Let’s go!” 

He was right; they didn’t have to constrain themselves to just Earth. He laughed and attempted to wriggle out of Lance’s grip, but that proved to be futile because the moment he sat back into his pilot seat, Lance had decided to crawl into his lap. 

“Where do you want to go?” Shiro asked, pulling up the map to display in front of them. 

Lance maneuvered through the virtual map for a moment before selecting a random planet that wasn’t too far off-course. A high pitched whine emitted from the engine as they abruptly changed course, but quickly died down again when they corrected. 

“Doesn’t really matter where we’re going,” Lance said, smile on his face. “The universe’s most eligible bachelor is no more.” He leaned in close to Shiro, smile going soft and affectionate. Shiro couldn't help but mirror his expression, feeling a warm, heady sensation spread throughout his body. 

“He’s mine.” 

### End


End file.
